Seasiders finish season with victory over Pats

The local Independent reported this as a close encounter….it begs the question whether or not the writers actually watch the games on which they report, or merely draw conclusions from the final score!
Having said that, this was no end of season frolic. Weston has not had the best of campaigns, wanted to finish on a high note and put things behind them. The Cheltenham based Old Pats arrived still needing points to avoid being sucked into the last relegation spot.
The visitors won the first five minutes, when they swiftly took a 14-3 lead, and the last five minutes, when they scored two late tries (after 84 and 86 minutes!!)
The remainder of the match comprised the home teams’ efforts to reel in the lead, and move comfortably ahead in the second half.
Westons’ woes continued. Second row Bufton, who has had an excellent season, joined Sparks and Russell on the injury list and they took the field with five front row forwards, and a distinct lack of height. Hooker Withers at times looked totally bemused at the lines-out…”where are my jumpers?”
Pats opened the scoring within a minute from a basic passing move that should have been stopped at source for a try in the corner, well converted by Butler.
Weston responded with a Mackay penalty but on five minutes, Ryan picked up the ball at the back of a ruck on the Weston 22 and strolled through a huge gap, with no sign of a defender, to touch down under the posts for a 14-3 lead.
After 25 minutes the deficit was reduced as Westons’ “pack of props” rumbled over for Morrissey to touch down. The try was unconverted but they repeated the operation on the stroke of half time, this time for Withers to claim the score. Mackay converted from wide out and the home side went in at half time 15-14 to the good.
This was increased to 18-14 ten minutes into the second half, and they scored again on the hour when the persistence and speed of Burnett on the wing gave the newcomer from Maidenhead his first senior try, converted for a 25-14 lead.
There was then a period of protracted pressure from the visitors when Weston showed remarkable defensive commitment (which hasn’t always been apparent this season) to keep them out, and as the game moved towards full time, forward pressure on the Pats line resulted in an opportunistic score for scrum half Ross Bennett…once again converted. 32-14 and the game all but over….at least that’s what Weston thought as they switched off to a man. Incredibly the Pats scored twice in three minutes of injury time through Ryan and Burrows to glean what might prove to be an invaluable four try bonus point, and things looked even better when Butler kicked the touchline conversion to squeeze a second bonus point.
Weston team Bennett,(Skelton) Middlemiss (Burnett), Jones, Edwards, Watkins, Mackay, Smee, Swann (c), Withers, Price, Hobbs, Hudson, Pullen (Cox), A.Fisher, Morrissey.